Road-vehicle.



W. E. MEECHAM.

ROAD VEHICLE. APPLlCATlON FILED APR. 11, I913- RENEWED AUG. 6, 155M.

Patented Apr. 13, 1915.

WILLIAM EDWARD MEECHAM, 0F WINNTEG, ITO1BA, CANADA.

ROAD-VEHICLJEi- Patented Apr. 13, 1915.

Application filed April 11, 1913, Serial No. 760,460. Renewed! August 6,1914. Serial No. 855,514.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that T, WILLIAM EDWARD MEECHAM,of the city of Winnipeg m the Province of Manitoba, Canada, have inventcol certain new and useful Improvements in Road-Vehicles, of which thefollowing 15 the specification. V

The invention relates to an. improvement in road vehicles, particularlyautomobiles and the object of the invention is to provlde an improvedpneumatic suspension for the chassis from the axles and it conslstsessentially in the arrangement and construction 1 represents the chassisor frame of an automobile which carries forwardly the usual radiator 2,engine 3, fan 4 and crank 5 which parts are simply referred to in orderthat the location of my device will be more clearly understood.

6 represents one of the automoblle wheels and 7 the front axle whichaxle it will be noticed is directly beneath the forward end of thechassis.

8 is a base piece permanently fastened by bolts 9 to the axle and fittedwith a drip t ll? cook 10.

11 is a central cylinder (relative to those later described) having thelower end permanently embedded in the base piece 8 and the upper endopen and fitted with a bearing ring 12 carrying a packing strip 13 heldagainst the bearing ring by a 1am nut 14 screw threaded into the upperend of the bearing ring.

15 is a hanger having one end thereof permanently bolted to the chassisand the opposite end fitted with a nut 16, there being a shoulder 17located on the hanger a short distance from the nut, the purpose ofwhich will be later explained.

18 is a top piece pivotally mounted on the hanger between the shoulderand the nut, it being noticed that a washer 19 1s inserted between theface of the nut and the top piece.

20 is an oil cup carried by the top piece receive between them the upperend of the.

cylinder 11 which has already been'referred to as the central cylinder.

It is here to be noticed that the packing strip 13 bears snugly againstthe outer face of the cylinder 21, the jam nut 14 being provided so thatit can at any time be adjusted to insure a tight fit between the packingstrip and the inner cylinder. The lower end of the inner cylinder isscrew threaded to receive a bearing ring 23 similar to that 21 whichbearing ring is also exteriorly screw threaded to receive a jam nut 24similar to that 14.

The opposing faces of the ring and jam nut 23 and 24 are beveledpresenting a more or less V-shaped groove which receives a packingstrip. 25. This packing strip bears continuously against the inner faceof the center cylinder providing at this point at all times a tightsliding joint and the jam nut 24 can be screwed up at any time toaccommodate any wear occurring in the packing strip.

26 is a rubber or other such resilient ring carried by the top piece andlocated between the cylinders 21 and 22.

27 is a spiral spring inserted between the central cylinder and theinner cylinder, which spring has the ends thereof engaging with thefaces of the rings 12 and 23.

28 is a filling opening for oil or such like liquid. This opening isnormally closed by a spring pressed ball 29 operating in the casting 30screw threaded into the top piece.

31 is an air duct formed in the top piece and opening through a springpressed valve 32 to the interior of the cylinder 21. The valve is soarranged that it admits air under pressure into the cylinder hutprevents the escape of the same from the cylinder.

The parts above described in detail con- .stitute the means which Iprovide for suspending the chassis from the axle. It is here to beunderstood that a device of this nature is used at each corner of thechassis to suspend the same from the axle.

The cylinder 21 and that portion of the cylinder 11 appearing beneaththe cylinder 21 is filled with compressed air passed into the cylindersthrough the duct 31, the air so entrapped forming virtually a pneumaticcushion betwen the chassis and the axle.

The spring 27 is inserted between the bearing rings to take up anyupward throw of the chassis which might occur when the vehicle ispassing over rough roads.

33 is a shaft slidably mounted bearing brackets 34 and 35 secured to thechassis a short distance behind the axle.

36 is a bar or link having the forward end thereof pivotally secured tothe axle and the rear end thereof pivotally secured to a block 37carried by the shaft 33, the block being held in any fixed position onthe shaft by the adjusting screw 38. 39 is a spiral recoil springlocated on the rod between the bracket 3* and the block 37.

I provide a link at each corner of the chassis whichvis connected withthe front of rear axle as the case may be and the chassis as abovedescribed.

It will be seen that the above parts allow for any sudden backwardthrust of the axle. \Vhen this occurs the top pieces 18 swing on thehangers and the links 36 force the shafts 33 back and compress thesprings 39.

WVhat I claim as my invention is The combination with the chassis andaxle of an automobile or other such like vehicle, a

of a hanger secured to the chassis and overhanging the axle, a top piecemounted on the hanger and provided with an air inlet duct having aspring pressed valve, a base piece permanently secured to the axle andalined with the top piece, inner and outer cylinders and the outer faceof the inner cylinder, ad-

justable jam nuts carried by the rings and engaging with the packingstrips and a spiral spring encircling the inner cylinder and having theends thereof bearing against the bearing rings, as and for the purposespecified.

Signed at WVinnipeg this 16th day of J anuary, 1913.

WILLIAM EDWARD MEEOHAM.

In the presence of G. S. BoxBURGH, L. SONTO.

